Bloodless Meaning
/blˈʌdləs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjLacking blood; ashen, anaemic.
adjTaking place without loss of blood.
Sentence Examples
Lucy's bloodless lips could only falter out the words, “It was my mother.”
A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The surgeon achieved a ____ operation with no visible cuts or bleeding.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The revolution was surprisingly ____, with no lives lost at all city.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English blodles, from Old English blōdlēas (“bloodless”). Cognate with Dutch bloedeloos (“bloodless”), German blutlos (“bloodless”), Danish blodløs (“bloodless”), Swedish blodlös (“bloodless”), Icelandic blóðlaus (“bloodless”). By surface analysis, blood + -less.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"My bloodleſſe bodie waxeth chill and colde,
And with my blood my life ſlides through my wound,
My ſoule begins to take her flight to hell,
And ſummones all my ſences to depart: […]"
— c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vii:
"Thou dost not slumber: see, thy two sons’ heads,
Thy warlike hand, thy mangled daughter here:
Thy other banish’d son, with this dear sight
Struck pale and bloodless; and thy brother, I,
Even like a stony image, cold and numb."
— c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
"The face was white and thoroughly bloodless with some kind of foundation cream; it stank of powder and a gardenia-like perfume."
— 1956, James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room, Penguin, published 2001, Part One, Chapter 2:
"Now and then a gaudy peacock would run from his shelter in the lauhala trees, but no wild boars came out, so we returned from our raid bloodless and spoilless."
— 1892, Rev. Herbert Henry Gowen, The Paradise of the Pacific, page 129:
"Those Philharmonic subscribers who considered Guest Conductor Igor Stravinsky too bloodless and ascetic […] last week found his successor, Georges Enesco, more to their taste."
— 1937 February 8, “No. 1 Rumanian”, in Time:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The surgeon achieved a ____ operation with no visible cuts or bleeding.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The revolution was surprisingly ____, with no lives lost at all city.